Not the stars, you fool
by this wild abyss
Summary: There are dreamers, there are fools, Naruto is neither. What she has is a goal that will become a reality, and training under the greatest of the sannin will help her on the way to greatness. Fem!Naruto. (generation for now)
1. Andromeda

**Not the stars, you fool**

**Disclaimer: Nothing, nada, zilch.**

Andromeda

* * *

_A glimpse:_

**Kawa no Kuni.**

Naruto eyes the large structure before her dubiously.

Three large cracks appear in the foundation, traveling upward into the stone, and then splinter into tiny fissures that web outward to the very top of the dam. Small trickles of water run down the surface, belaying the vast water source held back by the arched dam. This superficial damage can be repaired easily.

It's the seal work that needs to be fixed.

A closer look is needed to find the extent of the damage. This is going to be tedious as hell.

Naruto turns to glare at her sensei, exclaiming, "What the hell Ero-senin!? I'm tired of doing your damned grunt work!"

"Grunt work?" Jiraiya yells back indignantly, "I'll have you know I was specifically requested for this assignment—"

"Bullshit," Naruto calls, "You just want to work on your porn—"

Jiraiya sputters indignantly, "Its _research _for my novel."

Naruto continues on as if he didn't speak, "—take credit for my hard work, and keep the pay to visit the next brothel we pass. I don't trust you, especially after the incident at the Blue Hummingbird." Jiraiya has the decency to at least flush at the mention of that occurrence. Naruto crosses her arms over her chest, and petulantly shouts, "Hell_ no!_ I'm not doing this!"

There's a silence that follows her exclamation, and Naruto becomes suddenly nervous in the stillness as Jiraiya regards her.

"What this I hear?" Jiraiya questions rhetorically. His voice carrying a menacing undertone.

Naruto swallows heavily and uncrosses her arms; Jiraiya has that sadistic gleam in his eyes, the one he gets in their training sessions. "The gaki's refusing her mission; well I know the solution to this insubordination—"

"Okay, okay, I'll do it," Naruto concedes to the threat, but all the defiance doesn't leave her, she gives him one last glare.

Jiraiya waves her forward encouragingly, a patronizing look on his face.

Naruto sighs, and turns to the task at hand. This is just one of the many assignments she's been given since she's started her apprenticeship. The tasks grow greater in scale, and require the imagination she displayed while playing pranks on Konoha's citizens. Naruto has a tendency to become bored and woe to all when that happens. The genius creativity she harbors has to be cultivated or else she'll wreak havoc, best to have her doing that to Konoha's enemies, than on the village's denizens.

These missions challenge her, and keep Naruto occupied when they're not training—a brutal regimen that focuses on rounding out her repertoire of jutsu, and finding ways to overcome her weaknesses. Which is in just about every field of the ninja arts, except for fuinjutsu.

From the murky banks of Shokotsu river Naruto leaps onto the stone surface and goes vertigo as chakra flows into her feet. Her chakra control is still shaky; she no longer leaves indents of footsteps in her wake. Now on the hunt, she searches for the epicenter of the seals.

Above her the Shokotsu rages, below her it becomes tranquil ripples.

Kawa no Kuni is famous for its system of rivers, and sthe valleys they carve out. Along with the dams and levees that keep the rivers tamed in the summer, when melting ice from the chain of mountains outlining Kawa's northern border comes tumbling down, keeping the land from being flooded.

The largest river is the Shokotsu that originates from the northern mountain range, and flows into many streams. It is primarily used as a source of electricity for the many villages within Kawa no Kuni; its many streams becoming sources of irrigation.

A dam this size needs more than the general fuinjutsu knowledge.

Chakra is summoned to her hand as she touches the cold stone, watching as the maze of seal work emerges. She moves slowly, takes in the matrixes, dimensions, and the elements used to create the seal. Naruto pauses as she examines the division that should prevent erosion, and is not surprised to find the workmanship to be shoddy.

Tanigakure is not known for their seal masters; the councilmen of several villages had pooled together their resources and petitioned Konoha for one. Ero-senin's fees are high, and if she's going to be coerced into doing his dirty work, she's going to start demanding a higher percentage cut.

Naruto stands up from her perusal. She can fix this; this is what she's good at, being innovative, taking existing seals and making them something more extraordinary. And so a plan comes forth, and Naruto begins its execution.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Five clones poof into existence and look to her with varying degrees of excitement, awaiting her directions. She unseals the ink and brushes she keeps stored within the flesh of her arm.

"So here's the plan…"


	2. Betelgeuse

Betelgeuse

* * *

_A beginning:_

**Heavy hangs the hat upon thy head**

Not much surprises Sarutobi Hiruzen, he has lived through three Shinobi wars, lived beyond the life expectancy of a ninja, and is a living legend. His bones ache with the telltale signs of age. Hiruzen is past his prime, but the call of duty beckons him to stand mighty, and yet this is one of the rare moments he allows weariness to paint his features.

He's returning from a council meeting with the village clan leaders and the advisors. The political climate is slowly easing its way into an armistice. This last decade has segued itself into events spanning from bad to worse: the Kyuubi attack, the death of the Yondaime, the cold war with Kumo due to the halted kidnapping of the Hyuuga heir, and the recent rebellion within the Uchiha clan that resulted into three fourths of the clan being wiped out.

Out of the 378 members only eighty or so remained, those being elderly, young children and the select few adults, that had decided to side with the faction that wanted to overthrow those in favor with the coup.

This council meeting had been ripe with tension, the Uchiha seat had finally been filled after the three years it remained empty. The women who had headed the bloody battle, cutting down her family members, now leads the remaining few. Uchiha Mikoto had stood within their midst, fierce and unwavering in the face of her fellow clan heads scrutiny. Many had forgotten that it had been Mikoto that Fugaku had married to attain the position of clan head. Clan heads within the Uchiha clan had always been male, but with the death of a dynasty a new era must follow, and in this era many changes will come forth.

It had taken three years to get the Uchiha clan affairs in order, and rid them of the seeds of discontent that had started with the founding of Konoha. The past would have to be learned from, to move forward on the long arduous journey the future held.

He walks through the emptied corridors of the Hokage tower to his office, pauses and gives an audible sigh. There are two individuals who can bypass the seals of his office and not incite the wrath of his ANBU, and one of them is dead. He is not in the mood to deal with this; however the day is never done for the fire shadow. Sarutobi continues in his trek, the marks of weariness are gone the moment he touches the cold metal of his office door and opens it.

"Good Evening Sensei."

Lo and behold the return of a legend. Hiruzen's students seldom venture into Konoha: Orochimaru with his traitor status branded upon his head, Tsunade who has renounced all ties to Konoha, thus leaving behind Jiraiya. Jiraiya who has only two reasons to visit leaf: to make reports from his contacts and check up on Naruto. The toad sannin only makes his trips to Konoha two to four times a year for the last decade. He'd been here three months before, and returning so soon is out of character.

And yet the Sandaime knows exactly why his student's here. The files within Jiraiya's hands give him away, files that show team formations, and one lone folder profile that is not included within that pile of papers.

Academy graduation is on the horizon, and their agreement from ten years ago is coming to the forefront.

"Ah, Jiraiya I see you've taken my seat, will you take my hat as well?"

The white haired toad sage looks up from that thrice cursed paperwork and gives the Sandaime a flat look, communicating exactly what he thinks of that great lark.

Sarutobi chuckles, and takes the seat before his desk. To be in the position where subordinates stand again is strange, and he wonders who he will choose to succeed him this time, the candidate list was short, too short.

Perhaps it was time to extend an olive branch to the Uchiha, the Hokage mantle had always been out of their reach, even with the great many ninja they've produced. With their dwindled numbers, that stringent belief of putting the clan glory and pride before the village has died with their traitorous family members, and the ones left must embrace the saying that "the clan is village, and the village is the clan."

Grooming and eventually nominating Uchiha Itachi would bring the Uchiha clan into a favorable light. If the Hokage decides to trust the remnants of the Uchiha clan, then surely the village will follow his show of goodwill. The sheep will always follow their shepherd, the Sandaime thinks cynically.

"She graduates next month," Jiraiya remarks, interrupting his musings, its take Sarutobi a moment to remember whom his student speaks of.

"Yes," he agrees, "she does."

"I'm taking her on as an apprentice," The toad sage reminds him unnecessarily.

Hiruzen merely nods his assent.

It was agreed ten years ago that once Naruto became a ninja, she would be taken under her Godfather's wing. She'd been sheltered within the village from the enemies of her parents, but he had not thought she would be graduating this early. Sarutobi had entered her into the academy at six to keep her busy and away from glaring eyes of the village. He had not expected her to keep up with the students two years her senior, and yet when it came to Naruto it was best not to underestimate her, she'd always exceed expectations.

* * *

Lunch is forty minutes long, she'll be damned if she doesn't use that time to the fullest extent.

Throwing up a henge, Naruto races into the dango shop, she's committing the most heinous crime against Ramen-sama, but she just doesn't have the time needed to savor the awesomeness that is Ichiraku's. Five minutes later she's rushing out of the shop, with two dango sticks in hand, and one in her mouth.

Earlier this week Hokage-jiji had finally allowed her access to level four seals within the Konoha Archive Library. With the promise she wouldn't attempt to use the seals until she graduated a month from now, and under supervision of her Jonin-sensei. Of course she sulked for moment, but got over it quickly and then spent that weekend within the library reading with rapt attention, damning the Academy homework straight to hell.

This morning before class started, she'd raced to the Hokage's office, and wheedled JiJi into letting her explore the defensive seals within Konoha's surrounding walls. The ANBU and the chunin on border patrol would be her minders, and wouldn't allow any mischief to become afoot, or have the village barrier team thinking they're under attack due to Naruto's misplaced curiosity.

She races through the shopping district, dodging civilians and ninja alike, "Excuse me, sorry, move _damnit!" _To the abandoned training ground seventeen, that borders the outskirts of the village, where dilapidated buildings remain as a testament of the Kyuubi attack that ensued ten years prior.

Naruto arrives, and smiles brilliantly.

Her hand is suffused in chakra; at her mere touch the monotone colored wall comes to life. Matrixes and dimensions emerge, more complex than any seal work she's personally worked with, but the signature seems familiar.

She's going to need a reference. Naruto unseals the notes she's written from a small scroll, from there a larger one appears, eclipsing its container seal by ten times. She scans the chicken scratch she calls handwriting, looking for that reference.

Ah there it is.

Since she's ventured into the realm of fuinjutsu, the books and scrolls she's read mentions Uzushiogakure and their renowned skills in the art of sealing. Uzumaki Mito personally created the defensive seals that protect Konoha.

She studies the seal intently, noticing there are three layers of defense that protect Leaf. The first layer is a barrier of sorts that encompasses hidden leaf in a dome. The domed barrier is sustained by the barrier team to detect intruders. The first layer is more recent than the last two; the sealing style is different from its predecessors.

The chakra that maintains the barrier must fluctuate when the maintainers change shift; that's a weakness that can be exploited. Naruto's hands itch to touch the chakra enhanced protection, to find its weak points and rectify them. The brush in her hand is fresh with ink… her impulse is stopped by the sudden spike in chakra, a reminder she's being watched.

"Yah, yah, yah," Naruto grumbles in response, and instead writes notes.

The second layer takes on the form of a genjutsu, using the trees surrounding Konoha. The trees that stand high and mighty in their height and numbers become an illusion of an endless labyrinth to enemies daring to trek into Leaf territory. These trees erected by the Shodaime have a trace of his chakra within the vegetation, and the seal that utilizes them.

"S-sugoi!" This is a mark of sheer genius, however, it's what powers the genjustu that throws Naruto off and has her wondering how the hell Uzumaki Mito got nature chakra to bend to her will?

She wonders if the old man has any sealing scrolls from Uzi no Kuni.

The third layer is beyond her scope of understanding, the level four seals she has access to barely allow her to comprehend heads or tails of it. The only thing she recognizes is the kanji for death and the need for blood to activate it.

She wants to know what the hell it does.

Naruto glances around inconspicuously.

She's curios and curiosity kills. Naruto bites her thumb, and glances around again. Her guardians have not made a single move.

To become a shinobi requires a sense of zero self-preservation. Naruto decides she might as well start now and deal with the consequences later. She moves her hand forward and tries not to waver—

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a voice warns above her.

"Gah!" Naruto shouts in surprise, and looks up to find a white haired old man peering down at her from his perch, crouched down on the side of the wall a few feet above her. "Who the hell are you!?"

He ignores her rude inquiry and states, "I've been watching you for a while kid, do us both a favor—"

"Are you stalking me!?" Naruto yells, and then questions, "Are you some kind of _pervert?"_

"Pervert!?" He exclaims, "I'm not a pervert, I'm a SUPER pervert!" And then proceeds to launch into a monologue, introducing himself, his standing in hidden leaf, and a kabuki dance for added flavor.

_Jiraiya of the Sannin, _Naruto feels her left eye twitch, _you have got to be kidding me._

By the time he's finished with his dramatic soliloquy, Naruto is half way across the field, scrolls and notes in hand, muttering under her breath, "Why do all the powerful ninja have to be perverts? Jiraiya of the Sannin my foot, more like ero-sennin. Bad enough the damn Hokage fell for my sexy jutsu, his damned student is probably just as bad."

Jiraiya frowns, "The youth these days are so disrespectful." He looks down at the notebook he has in hand, having snatched it away when she was none the wiser. He has one way of getting her undivided attention. Gama Sennin calls out to her, "Kid, you left your notebook behind!"

Naruto freezes dead and pivots on her foot, blue eyes narrow onto the journal in hand and she makes a beeline for it. There's no way in hell she leaving behind her precious research and original seals.

The moment she makes a grab for it, he holds it out of her reach, exploiting her short stature. "Ack! Give it back you bastard," Naruto jumps up and down, trying futilely to get her notes.

"I'll have you know my parents were married when they conceived me," Jiraiya informs her. Raising his foot, he makes her face a new resting place for it as he holds her at bay. He leafs through the notebook, and raises a brow with each page he passes, taking the time to study a few intently.

Jiraiya notices that aside from the original work she's created or is currently working on, which while ingenious, could use some tweaking and expert guidance. The other seals she has are changes to mainstream fuinjutsu used by shinobi. The storage seal for instance, she's taken that and made it possible for full meals to remain warm as if freshly prepared, and is currently trying to extend the expiration date…for Ramen-sama. Jiraiya nearly face palms at the small note at the end of the page.

While the toad stage violates Naruto's personal property, she flails and mumbles beneath the weight of his geta. More than annoyed by him ignoring her—she gets enough of that from the village alone, and she'll be damned she doesn't get recognition from a master of the art she plans on kicking ass in, Naruto decides to pull out reinforcements. Obscured in the dirt, Naruto's expression shifts. She's wearing her determined face—woe to all.

She pulls out a seal she's been working on for a time when she enters combat, and faces an enemy beyond her league. Jiraiya made himself the enemy the moment he refused to hand over her notes, this asshole has to get what's coming to him.

The sudden shift in chakra alerts him, he moves swiftly before she has the chance to murmur, "_Fuin."_

The foot upon her face disappears, he deftly removes the paper from her grasp, and absently notes its regular cheap paper, not the sealing kind. And the foot that found solace on her face, now finds a new home on her spine.

"Gahhhhhhh! Let me up you prick. This is not how a lady should be treated!"

"I don't see a lady here, so you'll stay put," Jiraiya responds, and then studies this seal with the same intensity he gave her other original work. After a few minutes, he says, "Hey kid, this is pretty good, what do you call it?"

Naruto stops moving for a moment and thinks, the cogs and gears turning in her head, "Either 'Your-supposed-to-be-stronger-than-me-but-I'm-kicking-your-ass-no-jutsu, or Ha!-your-deaf-and-blind-now-I'm-gonna-pummel-you-no-jutsu. But I'm starting to think _Hear no Evil, See no Evil_ might be make more sense." Naruto finishes sheepishly.

This time Jiraiya does face palm, _just like her father._ Loud like Kushina, features like Kushina, coloring like Minato, flaky like Minato, if only they knew what kind of monster they'd created.

He looks over the seal, and then back at her… well the back of her head, he can see the potential, the talent that shouldn't go untapped, and though this day has been predetermined a decade ago, this only cements it. Jiraiya lets Naruto get up, which she does happily, dusting her clothes off. When she turns to face him, no doubt ready to mouth off, he cuts her off with a question:

"Naruto, I don't know if anyone's ever told you, but you're a budding prodigy in fuinjutsu. You graduate in month, would you like to enter an apprenticeship with me as your sensei?"

Naruto eyes gleam with happiness, her smile is blinding until she frowns and her eyes shutter with suspicion, "What's the catch?"

"There's no catch," Jiaraiya responds calmly, and hands her back her journal and seal.

Naruto snatches them out of his hand, and then reverently puts them away. In a matter of fact tone of voice she says, "There's always a catch. When I barter with the merchants in the market they charge me three times the regular prices. When I henge myself as someone else, I barter them down from the originals prices. So yeah," Naruto finishes flatly, "there's always a catch."

Jiraiya stares at her, there's a lot to analyze in that statement alone. He'll have to do that later.

"I'm serious," Jiraiya insists, "Look gaki when the teams are called, and the sensei show up, I'll be there." He's about to say 'trust me' but that seems to be pushing it as Naruto's brow furrows in disbelief.

"When I see you, I'll believe you," Naruto states, and then halts, "What time is it?"

Jiraiya looks to the horizon, and then the shadows, "A quarter to one—"

"Shit! Hideki-sensei and what-his-face-sensei are gonna to be so mad at me. I gotta go, I gotta go," She takes off, but turns and says to a bemused Jiraiya, "Nice talking with yah ero-senin!"

Jiraiya gapes at her retreating back.

"Who the hell are you calling Pervy sage? You little shit!" Jiraiya sputters indignantly. "Come back here!"

"No can do," Naruto laughs as she runs, "and you are a pervert, a SUPER pervert after all!"

Jiraiya sighs and then feels a smile tug at his lips; at least things will become interesting with her around.

* * *

_**One month later…**_

Naruto unties the hitai-ate from around her head, and stares at it in awe. She still can't quite believe she's now a shinobi. If anyone else asks, she would say because she kicks major ass, and the teachers simply recognized her awesomeness and handed the forehead protector over.

However the Academy three had once been the bane of her existence. Henge no jutsu became an invaluable tool and made her life easier much easier, Kawarimi became child's play once she learned to use it affectively against the ANBU and other high ranking ninja, when she evaded them while they were on the hunt for her after a prank gone terribly right.

Bunshin no jutsu.

Those three words piss her off to no end, Naruto has a dream and she'll be damned if she'll let some low level jutsu stop her. The proctors of the exam had said create three perfect clones, they never said how.

When Naruto discovered her Achilles' heel she overcame it, fuinjutsu is a ninja art that is limitless when the user is creative. And so Naruto slaved over this seal for a year, and produced a seal that became her saving grace. She has every intention of eventually incorporating elements for her next batch of seals, but first she needed to learn Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.

If Ero-sennin keeps his promise, then learning the shadow clone jutsu will no longer be a hindrance.

Hideki-sensei and what-his-face-sensei come in, and begin to announce the teams. They're up to team six, when a toad appears in a poof before her.

"Yo," he greets. Red and navy blue in color, the toad asks, "Are you Uzumaki Naruto?"

Naruto nods with wide eyes, she knows some summons can speak, but she's never encountered one herself, "Yah."

"I'm Gamakichi, got any candy?"

Naruto nods, "Mochi, strawberry or chocolate?"

"Both please." Naruto readily hands them over, and has some herself, lunch is approaching and she's becoming hungry.

When Gamakichi finishes he says, "Jiraiya says to meet him at training ground seventeen."

Naruto simply grins, the pervert came through.


	3. Regulus

Regulus

**AN: Merged chapters 3 and 4 together and made some changes to it. Reread if you please.**

* * *

_A step forward:_

On the outskirts of the village, where dilapidated buildings remain as ghosts of their former glory. Here lays the abandoned field known as training ground seventeen.

Here a most curious sight takes place.

Upon a toad leisurely sits a sage.

A file in his hand, a scroll in another.

A frown etches the sage's face and deepens with every sentence he reads.

Raw talent is something he can work with and refine, throw a brilliant mind in there with a knack for creativity, and that just makes the deal sweeter. However, when the prodigy in question lacks the basics in ninja arts, one has to question how the hell she even passed the academy.

Jiraiya has a plan; he just has to change a few of the variables, and adjust accordingly.

That didn't mean he wasn't going put her through hell, and ram the basics into her thick scull.

Jiraiya grins, the gaki will be here any minute now.

_This will be fun._

* * *

When she was young and had been presented with her apartment from Hokage-jiji. At night Naruto would climb from her small terrace and onto the cobble stone roof above, and look to the stars beyond.

She'd think if she could reach those distant masses of light then she could do anything.

Whimsical and childish of her, but the notion stuck.

Besides, why couldn't she?

She alone, kept her apartment for the last four years; sure she had a caretaker at first that did the bare minimum for her: clean the apartment, do her laundry, buy groceries, cook the occasionally meal.

That did not last long.

If there's anything Naruto learned from her time in the orphanage, is that it's better to be self-sufficient, her self-preservation demands it.

And in the sanctity of her own home, she wished to be free from the indifference and ill-conceived hatred beneath the glares of her fellow citizens of Konoha. Her caregiver defied this silent decree, and so Naruto took it upon herself to learn her caretaker's duties so that she may know peace.

Wheedling the henge no jutsu from the Hokage had only been a necessity if she wished to visit the market district unburdened by stares.

When the academy bored her to tears, she found a way to occupy her time. Only a select few of subjects held her complete attention, and even then her attention wondered unless the information pertained to something interesting.

The mentions of seals, a crash course in fuinjutsu from the Hokage, the minute lesson on the destruction of Uzu no Kuni in the second ninja war and what that village was renowned for, further research in the revealing the Uzumaki clan and their exploits in seals… that held her attention.

And so Naruto decided she would become a combat fuinjutsu specialist.

This goal seems more like a reality with each step she takes to training ground seventeen.

Encased in her arms is Gamakichi, who seems quite content to go along for the ride. Though she is excited she takes a leisurely pace, it's not every day she gets to talk to a summon. Enma is an exception, he's an extension of Hokage-jiji's omnipresence, catching her when she's a verge of greatest—i.e. pranks.

On their brief journey Gamakichi regales her with stories of his home on Mount Myoboku. Waxes poetic on the dining cuisine which involve a variety of bugs and plant life. She finds supplying him with the rest of her mochi keeps him from going into further gory detail. Here she steers the conversation toward more prosperous avenues.

"So when a ninja signs the contract and have the sake ceremony with the head honcho, is the shinobi assigned a partner?"

"Nah, it's more about preference," The toad replies.

"Who does Ero-sen—er… Jirayia-sennin like work with?"

"Gamaken, Gamahiro or my dad, Gamabunta."

Naruto smiles, and asks, "After I sign the contract, would you like to partner with me Gamakichi?"

The small toad seems startled by this proposition, and queries incredulously, "Why? I'm still in training, and I'm still a kid, and…well _small."_

Naruto points out in a matter of fact tone, "I may be a genin but I'm still in training, still a kid but I'm considered a legal adult due to my shinobi status, and I'm," This pained her to say it, "short—rather petite. Besides you said your dad was taller than the Academy building, so that means you'll be just as tall if not bigger. Therefore, we'll train together to become stronger."

Gamakichi mulls over these words for a few seconds and says, "When you say it that way, I say you've gotta deal Naruto. Now do you have any more mochi?"

"Nope," Naruto supplies. Gamakichi grumbles in discontent.

Soon they come upon training ground seventeen, Naruto crosses the field, to where the sage sits up top a toad in quiet ruminations.

Gamakichi jumps from her arms and gives a greeting in the form of a croak to his fellow toad, he turns to her and says, "It was nice meeting ya, Naruto. Try to sign the summoning contract and I'll vouch for ya with me my Otou-san."

The toad disappears whilst he came, in a plume of smoke. Naruto really needs to sign that summoning contract, she opens her mouth to ask so, but the sage holds up a hand for silence.

The girl frowns, and waits.

Jiraiya slips off the toad and withdraws a piece of chalk from his weapons pouch. He proceeds to take ground eating steps until he reaches a remnant wall of what was once a building. He places a hand on it, the other hangs midair with the chalk in hand. Gama-sennin stares, contemplating the wall.

Naruto is not known for her patience.

Eternity and forever seems to pass, when it's really been five minutes and Naruto snaps, "What the hell—"

"Wait."

However patience is a necessity here. Gama-sennin flies in action, and before her eyes a matrix comes to life.

A replica of Konoha's foundation is the basis of the seal. The outside dimensions show the three defenses that protect the village. The real marvel is inside the seal, here complex configurations are drawn. Naruto identifies a few basic seals transformed to change their purposes. Naruto's eyes widen when she recognizes a matrix for bending space and time.

Damn. That's something she's never encountered outside of books.

She tilts her head, and she looks for more, eyes hungry for more details. Jiaiya steps away, and stands back to look at his handiwork, and then glances down at the gaki.

At her look of awe, he chuckles, "It appears you are impressed," Jiraiya dramatically proclaims, "Tell me minion, what do you see?"

Naruto eyes barely flicker to acknowledge him, too preoccupied by the seal, but she does answer him in a halting tones as she makes her observations. "I can make out parts of the seal, but not its whole purpose. Different dimensions have different purposes. From what I can tell this," Naruto comes closer to the wall and traces a pattern, "uses elements from the three defenses that protect Leaf. Specifically the one with turns the trees into a genjustu, a labyrinth."

Jiraiya simply grins, neither denying nor confirming her remarks.

Naruto continues on blithely, "What I don't understand is the need for the space and time matrix and how it connects the genjutsu." Naruto proceeds to mumble to herself, "What do I know about illusions? They engage all five senses and trap the victim, but they can't alter reality—Oh!"

"It's a maze, this turns Konoha into a maze, this is Leaf's fourth defense isn't it!? If enemies were ever able to make it into Konoha, the village would change—"

Gama sennin intervenes, "Into quadrants, certain districts and main streets would be able to switch places, or lead to enemies out of Konoha and into a pocket dimension, well at least it's supposed to."

Naruto turns bright determined eyes onto Jiraiya, and demands, "I didn't see this when I studied the defenses. Why isn't this put into use? Who created this?"

"Because it's not finished, the person who made this…. You know what? Why don't you tell me who made this? Who do you think did?" Jiraiya asks in turn, instead of answering her query.

Naruto's eye twitches, "Or you could just tell me."

Gama-sennin laughs, "Where's the fun in that."

"Fine," Naruto answers, and Jiraiya can practically hear her neurons firing in rapid succession. "The Yondaime is the most plausible answer due to his Flying thunder god technique, but the Nidaime was known to dabble into seals that involve space and time. If it was the Nidaime's then there would be more of an Uzumaki influence, this work is more original, it also has some your stylistic designs. So I'll go with the Yondaime. Ha, I'm right aren't I?" Naruto boast and when Jiraiya does not answer, she looks up at him uncertainly, "Am I?"

"Yah kid, you've done your research. If I had a cookie, I'd give it you, but I don't."

Naruto scowls at him, and proceeds to flip him off.

Jiraiya has to laugh, "Its way too fun to rile you up. Okay, okay let's get started."

Were aggravation grated, hope now blooms, here is a beginning. The reality is now.

But that reality seems to come crashing to a halt when Jiraiya opens his mouth.

"I'll be blunt with you kid," the toad sage begins, "I haven't had a student in over a decade, and as I have shown you, I have high expectations. I taught the Yondaime, I taught the current leaders of Amegakure, so kid you have a lot to live up to.

"I looked at your file and your test results are all over the place, you'll score in the top percentile in one area, and bomb completely in other. I know book knowledge means little without real experience, but I've gotta ask, did you pay any attention while you were in the academy?"

"Some," Naruto mumbles, Jiraiya looks at her incredulously, and Naruto bristles. "What!? The academy was boring! When I was interested I paid attention, when it wasn't I slept. I had better things to do than learn about some stupid treaty with Ta no Kuni, or some stupid cold war with Hoshigakure no Sato."

"Naruto you barely passed the Academy by the skin of your teeth," Jiraiya explains slowly, as if speaking to a young child.

"I'm not stupid, I know that, but I passed. I'm a fucking ninja!" Naruto retorts.

"You passed, but you're only a ninja if I declare you fit to become one," Gama-sannin explains.

"What!?"

"Yup," Jiraiya declares, "if you want to be ninja, _my_ apprentice, you've got to work for it."

Naruto looks at him suspiciously, and questions ominously, "What do I have to do?"

"Naruto, I travel… a lot, and all over the elemental countries. There's no way in hell I'm slowing my pace for a green gennin." The sage grins, opens a scroll and summons forth two weights, he drops them to the Earth, and small cracks appear in their wake, "These are ten pound weights; you'll be wearing them starting now. I have three days in the village, starting today and every day we will spend training. You have stamina, but you have lack speed. By the time we leave Konoha, you will travel with twenty-five pound weights on each leg."

Naruto gapes at him and points an accusing finger, "…evil! You are a task master."

The toad sage chuckles, and says menacingly, "You ain't seen nothing yet kid. Now give me twenty laps around the lake."

Naruto furrow her brow, "What lake?"

"This one!" Jiraiya supplies happily. And proceeds to fly through hands seals, a series of jutsu follow each other. An influx of chakra is inserted into the earth and a large yawning hole appears, heat descends in the form of fire and hardens the earth, and finally water appears, the surrounding plants wither with the loss of vapor.

"Show off," Naruto grumbles under her breath.

"What this I hear?" Jiraiya questions rhetorically, "The brat wants five more laps."

"No, no, no," Naruto says quickly, grabbing the weights, securing them to her legs, and then takes off at a light sprint.

* * *

_And so it begins:_

It's an uphill battle to pull herself onto the bar stool.

And when she does, she collapses onto the metal counter and heaves great mighty breathes.

Ichiraku Ayame quirks a brow and watches on in amusement as Naruto struggles to gather her bearings. Yesterday Naruto showed up to the ramen stand looking like death warmed over. She wonders if this will become the girl's default setting when she comes to lunch for now on. It should alarm her, but considering this is a shinobi village, a lot of ninja who patron the stand show up in various stages of looking like shit after returning from missions or training.

Naruto is a favorite and would cause Ayame to be worried, but she'd just graduated and a month ago the girl had come to the ramen stand, waxing poetic to Ayame and her father that a Sannin was going to be her sensei.

Those praises had gone out the window since Naruto had donned her hitai-ate.

"Are you all right Naru-chan?" Ayame asks more out of habit and some concern.

"H-h-hai," Naruto manages to reply, and then inhales deeply, letting her next words come out in a rush, "Ayame-chan may I have three miso, four beef, two pork ramen?"

The blonde lets her head fall back onto the counter, letting the cool metal seep into sweat ridden forehead.

"Coming right up," Ayame says, turning briefly and returning with a glass of water she places before the girl.

Naruto glances at the glass gratefully, and would move to drink it, if only she could find the energy.

It's not surprising when she passes out.

* * *

Ero-sennin is evil, a bakemono come to life.

Since five this morning, before the morning kunai could park the dark and usher in dawn, Naruto has been put through the paces. Like her first day of training, the sage had increased her weight by five pounds, here on the second day she's still getting used to fifteen pound weights, and it goes downhill from there.

Jiraiya called for twenty-five laps around his make-ship lake, which seems to have gotten bigger since she ran its premises the day before—Naruto would not put it passed the old pervert to have widened its circumference.

She's become familiar with muscles she didn't even know could ache as badly as they did. Usually exerting herself resulted in fast recovery, but in this case her sensei did not let up. Jiraiya did not even push her to her breaking point, but he did challenge her. Making her understand how serious he is despite his propensity for disappearing, and leaving a shadow clone to monitor her training.

Training that consisted of increasing her speed and improving her basic taijutsu.

A routine that includes doing laps, going through basic katas, being told to come at Jiraiya with the intent to kill and having her ass handed to her… yep those moments are a real doozy:

"All right Naruto come at me with the intent to kill, otherwise if you don't you won't have a chance of landing a blow," Jiraiya lectures.

Naruto glares at him, _as if I have any chance of landing a blow any way, you're a fucking Sannin!_ And yet she falls into the academy taught stance, but hesitates to attack. Naruto will never back down in the face of an adversary or uncertain odds, for if there's a will there's a way, and Naruto's will is unshakable as far is she is concerned.

However this is a taijutsu fight only, and even if she had her seals, she'd be fighting a seal master with a repertoire of jutsu she can only dream of.

Naruto's mind begins to moves rapidly, estimating the damage she's going to take, knowing the odds are not in her favor, but will take this inevitable loss and learn from it.

It's why she's here anyhow.

Into a run she starts, one leg begins momentum the other follows. The tension from the weights make every muscles strain from movement. One palm lays flat open; the other is wound in a bandaged fist.

She appears to attack directly, but disappears using the modicum of speed she's gained in the last day to her momentum. Above the Sannin she appears, fist coming down quickly, only to have it caught easily. Naruto twists in his hold, spinning her legs forward, defying gravity's call back to earth. The intended kick never lands; Jiraiya grabs one of her legs; hand and fist caught Naruto lets out cry.

She tries to maneuver out of his hold to land somewhat gracefully, Jiraiya throws her and she lands on unsteady feet, skidding to a halt. The sage beckons her forward; she grits her teeth and rises to the occasion.

This time when she attacks, she's kneed in the back, and she lands unceremoniously on her face.

Naruto groans and struggles to her feet, Jiraiya's smirking face enters her view as he hunkers down to look down at her. "Gaki, you're going to have to try harder," The toad sage goads.

Naruto glares at him and gives him the one finger salute. Of course she regrets it immediately.

But as they continue to spar Naruto begins to memorize his moves, understanding the counters she can use, and creating ones that seem quite unorthodox but are effective nonetheless.

After getting her ass handed to her, running more laps, and going through basic taijutsu once more, not always in that order, she gets a reprieve.

Not quite.

It's another form of training.

Meditating and an excuse to sleep are synonymous to Naruto, but as far as Ero-sennin is concerned is that every time she dares to nod off will be a hit on the head from his geta.

And so the regiment continues with meditating coming at the end of the day, once most of her energy has been expended and her attention doesn't show it has the capacity of a slug:

Naruto fidgets, and struggles to stay still, despite being exhausted from hours of extensive training, her mind is racing with thoughts and ideas.

Jiraiya sees this and puts it into perspective for her.

"Brat," he starts, "tell me how many ninja are nearby."

Naruto frowns and stretches out her senses, they appear as blips on her radar, the more suppressed their chakra is the fainter the ninja appears to her, but they are there nonetheless.

"Seven," Naruto says, hesitates and then clarifies her answer, "Two ANBU, their chakra signatures are faint, one jonin I think, two chunin and one genin."

Jiraiya lets out an impressed whistle, "Not bad kid, just as I thought your senses are pretty damn sharp, but there are nine shinobi. _Two _more are ANBU. But now I want you to look beyond them, to what surrounds them."

Naruto's brow furrows in confusion. Well that's ambiguous, and yet before she can voice the need for clarification, Jiraiya expands on his explanation.

"There is chakra everywhere, in the air we breathe, in anything that has life in it," Gama Sennin lectures, and then asks, "Naruto, when you were studying Konoha's sealing defenses, specifically the second layer, what chakra did the genjutsu use?"

Her eyes widen and she exclaims, "Nature chakra!"

"Yah," Jiraiya replies in the positive, "You've got large chakra reserves and are going to be capable of great destructive jutsu, but that doesn't mean you don't have to refine your chakra control. The most effective jutsu are those wielded with sufficient chakra control. Learning to sense nature chakra is going to help you with your chakra control when you start water walking and later when I teach you the sage arts."

Naruto eyes are particularly bright, and her jaw looks as if it will break with how wide and brilliant her smile is. "Sage arts?"

"Eventually kid, there's no way in hell you're ready for that yet, now can you feel the nature energy," Jiraya instructs patiently.

Her eyes close, and she stills. The world around her seems to explode in color, more tangible to her senses. In awe she says, "Yah, yah I can."

Gama Sennin simply says, "Good."

* * *

The smell of ramen beckons Naruto to awaken, and she inhales each bowl with supernatural speed. Her energy returns, and Naruto slams the money down that she owes with renewed vigor.

"Thanks Ayame, tell your Otou-san I said he is the greatest chef that has ever lived," Naruto shouts as she takes off.

Its early afternoon and she needs to return to training ground seventeen. And while she's not all that eager to return to that grueling training session, she hopes against hope they'll tackle something new. Like fuinjutsu, they have yet to touch that topic with a ten foot pole since the Jiraiya showed her that seal created by the Yondaime. And isn't sealing what led to Jiraiya taking her on as an apprentice. More than anything she wants the toad sage's perspective on her seals.

Hell she'd even take a jutsu to supplement her nonexistent repertoire.

When she enters the premises she's finds a shadow clone of Jiraiya—there's no sign of his favorite toad in sight—and knows Gama-sennin is either annoying Hokage-jiji or perving on the local female population.

The clone raises its hand in Jiraiya's universal sign of entering a duel, and it takes all of Naruto's will power to not take off running in the direction whilst she just came. They've sparred twice today so far and there's no way in hell she's going to be able take another beat down.

The girl groans and slows her approaching steps to a minimum trek, she whines, "Again? Why can't we work on seals or teach me super cool jutsu?"

The clone frowns and slackens his combat posture, "Gaki, when we spar what you have noticed?"

Naruto snorts, "That there are many ways to eat dirt at the hands of your sensei."

"No," The shadow bunshin says exasperatedly, "What taijutsu do I use, what taijutsu do you use? When did I stop teaching the Academy katas and started teaching you the ones I use? What defensive and offensive moves have you learned?"

Naruto opens her mouth and closes it several times.

This time the double ganger snorts and rolls his eyes, "For a genius you're pretty dense."

"Hey!" Naruto shouts indignantly, "I noticed damn it, I just adapted as you went. _That's _what I do. I adapt and keep up, the Academy instructors would show me to do something one way, and teach the other students another way. I learned by watching my classmates or teaching myself and ignoring my sensei."

She stares at him defiantly, daring him to contradict her.

The clone stares her, storing that information away for his boss to analyze, that's not that first comment she's made in that vein. All the more reason to get her the hell out of Konoha and expose her to a wider world.

"I understand Naruto," He finally says, "Here's what _I'm _teaching you. This taijutsu style relies on speed, since your slight that'll work to you advantage, especially since you want to use fuinjutsu in combat. Speed will allow you to place seals on enemies and ignite them before they realize it."

Naruto's grinning hard at the end of his explanation, a shit eating grin if he ever saw one. "Now you're talking my language, Ero-sennin. Let's get started!"

It's the first and probably the last time she shows such enthusiasm for getting her ass kicked.

But once they leave Konoha, she hopes for more insight into fuinjutsu.


End file.
